Safety near an east-side park was at the forefront of residents' concerns during a Ward 2 candidate forum Thursday night at Bethel AME Church in Des Moines.

Neighbors shared stories of attempted thefts and discussed the need for more programs at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 1650 Garfield Ave.

Marty Mauk and Linda Westergaard, the two candidates seeking to fill the City Council seat being vacated by Bob Mahaffey in Tuesday's city election, both supported making the park shelter available for after-school programming. The enclosed shelter is available during the daytime for senior meals, but it closes by the time local schools get out.

The park is located just a few blocks east of Hiatt Middle School.

“A lot of the crime in parks is a cause and effect relationship,” Mauk said. ”One of the best things for a neighborhood park is to have as many families there ... you're going to see less and less crime because, frankly, they don't like a lot of people around when there's crime.”

Westergaard said she spoke with Ben Page, the Des Moines parks and recreation director, about the possibility of bringing more programs to the park.

“It has to be consistent and it has to be regular," she said. "If we have something now and then, it gets forgotten on our calendars.”

The Rev. Brigitte Black said she wanted to see increased police presence at the park.

"We want to keep our neighborhood safe and have young people stay here," Black said.

Cory Royster, 40, lives near the park. The father of three daughters said he was looking for more answers to the safety concerns than he heard from the candidates.

“This did have me looking for more. I'm going to go home and see if I can get a chance to talk to the candidate(s) more personally,” Royster said. “Nothing they said was eye opening.”

Neighbor Charice Williams was more encouraged by the idea of getting families active at the park. However, she said a candidate would have to come up with more specific answers to get her vote.

"We want to know that they're not just going to be elected and forget about us,” Williams said. “They can't just give a fluff answer that's something they can wiggle out of later.”